Over the past couple of years this has become one of our staple beach house dinners. I don’t know why I don’t make it the rest of the year, I just don’t. But as a result, this has become an extra special and extra ‘beach house-y’ meal for us. The bonus is that this is super easy to make (because of a couple of built in “cheats”). The most awesome thing about this supper, however, is that if you double or triple it (like I always do), there will be lots of leftovers — which can be used in lots of different ways.
INGREDIENTS:
- Bottle of your favorite store-bought Italian dressing (totally skimp here and buy the cheap stuff– it seems to make it even better, I swear! This– store bought dressing– is Cheat #1)
- Chicken breasts
- Store-bought pesto (make your own, if you really want to — I’m the first to say that homemade pesto is totally 100% worth it… in certain circumstances… unlike this circumstance… in which the store-bought kind is 100% better, I swear! This– store bought pesto– is Cheat #2)
- Pasta — whatever shape you like. For some reason, Owen & Kyle always want this meal with thick spiral pasta (I have no clue why that is).
- Veggies for skewering. I always use Vidalia onion for this (because they are so good here; we are so close to Georgia where they are grown), but other than that — I buy whatever is fresh and good looking. Zucchinis and bell peppers looked good at the farm stand the other day when I was shopping, so that’s what I used this time.
TO DO:
The night before you’re going to have this meal, cut the chicken into bite-sized skewer-able chunks. Place in air-tight container (or zip-loc bag). Drown in Italian dressing (you are using the dressing as a marinade).
Place in fridge to sit overnight. See how hard this is? The chicken just sits there in the fridge while you go about your business. Marinating for the win! Tip: do not let this marinate more than 24 hours or the chicken will start to break down. 
When you’re ready to make dinner, get to work skewering. Tip: make your kids/husbands/wives/partners/friends/enemies do this for you! Skewer the chicken so that the pieces are touching, but not too closely packed together. Cut the veggies into bite-sized, skewerable chunks. Skewer them too. Drizzle Italian dressing onto the veggie skewers.
Meanwhile, prepare the pasta. Cook according to box directions, then, once drained, toss with the pesto. Note: for my family, I do two boxes of pasta and two containers of pesto. This is my tried-and-true favorite store-bought pesto:
Grill the skewers! See my little portable “travel grill”?! I love this thing. Sometime I’ll have to devote a whole post to this grill-o-mine! Anyway…. Tip: Don’t overcook the chicken! Keep it moist! The veggies will actually take longer to grill than the chicken.
Enjoy!
LEFTOVERS: Seriously, the best part of this meal is the leftovers, which can be used in so many ways!
- My bambinos love the pasta heated up the next day. With parmesan cheese, this is a meal unto itself for them. They love this for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (really, no joke).
- You can also just toss all the leftovers together — the pasta, the chicken, and the veggies — and warm up for another dinner.
- But the pasta is great room-temperature, or cold, as a ‘pasta salad.’ Toss some veggies in there (cherry tomatoes and peas are my favorite for this), mix it up, and there’s a nice pasta salad for another time.
- The chicken and veggie skewers are great cold. Eat them on their own, or on a salad…
- …or mix with some couscous and raisins for a great easy dish (serve with a tossed salad and that’s a whole other meal).
- Or, place the chicken and veggies in pitas, drizzle with tzatziki sauce, or simply drizzle with more of the Italian dressing, and ta-da! awesome pita sandwiches for a beach picnic!
Looks yummy! Going to steal this one, and I admit I looked at your full grill and thought, “Well, there are Owen’s portions. What is everyone else going to eat?”